In this case, 1 product sold through many affiliates is absolutely dominating the AdWords top 8 categories.
They do this through a variety of sites disguised as review sites.
I have some respect for this, but all 8 positions? And they aren't even fair reviews.
This is simply not fair and there needs to be some kind of process for identifying this behavior and trying to put an end to it.
Please, does any body have any suggestions as to what works and what doesn't work?
Tx,
-C
A long time ago I was approached by a company to set up my "own site" using their template and to promote it using AdWords, because they only got one position. I was not interested, but I would not be surprised if all the "affiliates" you see are sponsored by the merchant in some way, but it would be impossible to prove.
Do your best to optimise your ads and landing pages and get to page 1.
In this case, 1 product sold through many affiliates is absolutely dominating the AdWords top 8 categories.
From your post, it sounds like you’re not affiliate. You sell your own thing? It does not sound right how they can be profitable with just a small portion of the total profit while you cannot make your own.
This is simply not fair and there needs to be some kind of process for identifying this behavior and trying to put an end to it.
Why end? What’s the benefit of it? What would be better if they’re not there?
Having a chance to be in top 3 for under 30 cents? ;) You want to sink Google’s shares even more? Bit of joking now – I had to, sorry. All before was serious.
Complain to the AdWords support people and get anyone else who agrees with you to do the same. Send an email with key points, similar to the above, as to why you don't like seeing these ads. Don't expect an immediate result, but if enough people complain, they will take action in the form of a policy.
If a customer visits my site, and is "tricked" into purchasing a product based on a shoddy review, they'll return the product and I won't get the commission anyway. Doesn't it make more sense to just review products honestly?
I think i'm getting off topic. The bottom line here is that the only reason it's not fair to you is because you're not ranking above them. If you had the top spot and they had the 8 below you, I wonder if you'd still think it was unfair.
I think the best plan of attack here for you is to study those pages that are ranking better and adjust your landing pages, etc. accordingly. Figure out what your competition is doing, then do it better.
Personally I'm not worried about rank, because it's not a problem for me. I just don't like any site that provides misleading information, or similar trickery. The web is full of these sites, but at least when they're being advertised we have some avenue for voicing our concerns in an effective way.
I proved it to Google, they shut them down because it was the right thing to do, and then within 60 days (just when the economy really tanked) they let them back in. I have emails statuing that I was right and that power above the rep i was dealing with had a different opinion. I suspect that opinion is 500k annually.
I dont have just a dial in number to contact reps, i have a team that actually fly's across the country to visit our company, so its not just a fauled promise by some rep, it was a directive handed down by a department. I suspect that I am not alone in this and its just part of doing business with Google these days.
So i can understand why you would be annoyed.
